In what could have been one of the most high-profile signings of the transfer deadline day, Tottenham Hotspur are reported to have been very keen on signing Manchester United’s out-of-favour midfielder, Morgan Schneiderlin, but if reports in England are to be believed then new manager Jose Mourinho had blocked the move as he did not favour selling to a direct title rival.
Mourinho has been known for not selling his players to any direct rivals in all the leagues he has featured in during his managerial career so far in England, Italy, Spain and Portugal. However, Petr Cech was the only exception as the Czech goalkeeper was allowed to join Arsenal last season. But that move had only materialised after Chelsea’s owner Roman Abramovich intervened and had sanctioned the move for Cech to stay in London as a tribute for his services to the club.
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It is reported that the Manchester United manager had blocked the Schneiderlin move as soon as he received the offer from Spurs. The manager did not like the idea of the Frenchman joining a rival side. It is also reported that the midfielder will be featuring for United in the Europa League campaign, even though he is unlikely to play a huge part for the team in the Premier League this season.
Also read: 5 most influential transfers of the 2016/17 summer transfer window
The Portuguese is said to have given a good thought to which all players he needs at the club and he also had reservations about Schneiderlin joining his former manager at Southampton Mauricio Pochettino at Spurs. ITV reported that Mourinho felt that the Spurs manager knows how to get the best out of the Frenchman and it could have worked wonders for their club.
Mourinho had already done his business early on in the transfer window as he brought in Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Henrikh Mkhitaryan, Eric Bailly, and Paul Pogba at the Manchester club. Hence, Mourinho felt that he had enough firepower in his squad and decided not to make any signings on the deadline day, only allowing youngsters to leave on loan.
Whereas, Spurs, on the other hand, acted quickly to seal a deal for Schneiderlin’s fellow French midfielder Moussa Sissoko. The Londoners responded to United’s rejection by buying Sissoko from Newcastle United in a £30m deal which proved to be one of the most eye-catching deals on the deadline day. It was Everton who were reportedly in talks to sign the French international but the North Londoners acted quickly to steal a player from the Merseysiders’ grips.
